Untitled01
by FanFicGuru5
Summary: Alright, so I didn't really mean for any of this, but you know; shit happens. Trying to save what's left of the world doesn't seem worth it to nobody. Marshal's doing whatever he can, and so are we; the remaining pilots of the once powerful jaegers the world depended on so. It'd be a blessing if we made it.
1. It's okay to fall

After my third beer I realized how light of a drinker I was. I could already feel all of the beer dwelling in the blended wastes from breakfast in my stomach. It'd have to come out at one point. It was only eleven hours and I was already wasted. Marshal wouldn't have liked that at all. Well, he also wouldn't have liked the fact that I stole a bunch of these from the culinary section. I was feeling a bit light headed, so after just blatantly lying sprawled across my floor, I got up to puke in the washroom. Definitely not because of the beer; just a small, I don't know, stomach flu I've had for the last week. After cleaning up, I drew my hair up in a bun. After staring at the result for a moment, I sighed and immediately released my hair. Whatever. I went out looking for my...well... I was alone at the moment. Marshal hadn't assigned me my co-pilot yet, which was ridiculous since me and another ranger I haven't met yet are the only Mark III pilots left. What was taking him so long was what I wanted to know too. I needed to clear my head a bit, so I went out walking anyway. I stopped a couple of times to talk to a few people, Mako, Westley, I even went to apologize to the head chefs for sneaking in. Well, Mako told me my co-pilot assessment was happening in a few hours so, thank god for that. Herc and I talked a bit while I was on my way back to my room. I was thankful his dumbass son wasn't with him, but I swear I could smell the dog just around the corner. Not Max, of course.

I felt slightly guilty for lying to the chefs in the kitchen because I sneaked a fourth beer in my pants pocket as I left. I'm sure they didn't mind anyway. I popped the cap off on the corner of my bed post, and guzzled down yet another 330mL of delicious Era Dark. My stomach was in an intense state of slowly dissolving my inners and brewing together a storm that would spit out of me from either ends. I could quite honestly say that I felt like I was dying. I left my room for the second time to go get checked up by a nurse. The nurse was cute, dressed in the navy coloured uniform. She told me the beer was not helping my stomach in any way. She gave me a colourless liquid in a brown bottle and advised that I drink it before every meal. I thanked her and left. Mako was waiting for me right outside, which was in all ways peculiar, but I ignored it anyway.

"Are you feeling alright, Lexy?" She asked me.

"I guess so. What's up?" Mako flipped her notepad open. "You have been assigned over ten possible co-pilots. The majority of them are not veterans but have been noted if they seem to suit you. I just wanted to give you a heads-up." My stomach did a twirl.

"Jesus...what about the other Mark III pilot? Can't you just assign him to me?" I persuaded.

"Marshal doesn't believe in that. The assessment is for your co-pilot and you."

"He's assessing me too?!" That son of a-

"After two years of being inactive after the loss of your last co-pilot, Marshal needs to know how you are." Mako looked slightly worried and I realized that I was feeling infuriated. Krete left the jaeger program for good two years ago. He went with the masses and decided that humanity needed to focus on oppression, not aggression.

"Mako, look. I don't mean to yell at the messenger, but if he wants to know how I am, just tell him I'm doing quite alright. Sorry." I turned on my heels and left poor Mako alone.

What an asshole I am. I wouldn't be surprised if people started linking Chuck and me together. I think I have such a superiority complex sometimes, because it's absolutely aggravating when people who have trusted me before decide to play with their faith. And it always leads to a moment when they need to reassert their faith that they can trust me. I haven't let Marshal down before. Never. Krete left us, and that asshole is now rolling in those wealthy safe zones because that's exactly what people like him do. They keep running and running and they don't even know where they're running off to. Now Marshal thinks I've lost my mojo, all because of that guy. I still can't understand how Krete and I were drift compatible. I guess everything fell right fucking apart after he quit, like one of the single bases in a pyramid of cards falling, pulling down the entire structure with it. I ran down to the kitchen and grabbed two more bottles of beer, whilst the head chefs were looking.

At fourteen hundred hours, I stormed out of my room to be assessed. despite technically refusing the assessment, I still wanted to be a pilot. And that wasn't going to happen until I got my damn assessment. My mind was in a frenzy from the drinking and I hiccuped occasionally, but I was clear enough to coordinate myself without totally looking like a fool. Marshal was looking like himself, with his cold demeanor and his clean sharp suit. Mako was beside him, scribbling down fast into her notepad whilst occasionally looking up to ask Marshal something. We locked eyes and she nodded at me. She mouthed something at me and I realized she was just talking to herself. Making notes I guess.

"Marshal." I called out to him.

"Lexy, you're late." He sounded tired. "You're just early." I said as I slipped off my boots and socks, and shook my jacket off.

"So, where's my co-pilot?" I glanced around and noticed the room was starting to fill up with people; workers, most of them, off on break.

"Not yet, that's what we're here for though." It started when Mako called on the first couple of suitors, who were to engage in mutual combat. As a physical exam? I had no idea. It worked as points, using long wooden poles to interject and attack between opponents, much like the old samurai had done hundreds of years ago. I was honestly very stiff at first. I lost the first match I think, to an older female, twice my age. I want to believe it was because of the beer, but even in my subconscious I could see she was a strong fighter. Despite me losing, Mako continued calling suitors. I just thought it was because the woman and I were not compatible. It was me, not her. Yeah, the beer was totally tolling on me right now. I won the next couple of matches, and by the sixth match, I was completely nauseous. At one point during a match, I actually swallowed back a bit of vomit that had managed to float its way out. I lost that match too. I felt more vomit surging upward when I realized the next suitor was the devil.

Chuck Hansen stepped out from the crowd, bare and holding a pole. He looked distasteful, and as did I. Both partly because of my actual hate towards him and because of the threat undergoing in my stomach. I had to speak up.

"Ah, ah. No way. I don't want him as a co-pilot. No way in hell am I going to drift with him." I immediately spat out to Marshal. He shut his eyes and massaged his temple. He didn't say anything. Mako looked up at him and then said "Personally, I didn't choose him as one of your suitors, but Marshal thought there might have been a connection."

I swear I almost puked right there. "Lexy, you either do this or you don't. Simple as that." Marshal's booming voice rang out.

"Yeah, yeah. Just let the little bitch get over her problem." I heard Chuck say. In this art, there is no need to profusely hit your opponent to win over a point, but I disregarded that rule. I whacked the pole right against the bastard's genitals. I would have done it again, but the boy fell to his knees grunting and moaning like...like a boy. "You bitch!" It would have gone farther than that but Marshal immediately called on someone to drag Chuck away. I'm sure he would have dragged me away as well if it weren't for the assessments.

"Look, Marshal. Can we just get right to the Mark III pilot? It could have just started there right at the beginning." Marshal let out a long sigh, and I thought he was purposely trying to completely empty his lungs of air.


	2. The last of us

"Raleigh." He called out. A young man stepped out from his post at the side, which I hadn't recognized earlier. He sort of looked like Chuck, except with a lot less ass in his face. I smiled.

"So this is my knight in shining armor?" I said as I searched him up and down. A slightly tall guy, blonde, buff and fit, with burns sprouting out from his shirt that I could see were from the neural suit. Definite signs of a jaeger pilot.

"Heard you were expecting me." The Mark III pilot said, stepping onto the mat..

"You have no idea." We readied ourselves into position. What to expect from this guy, was not exactly known. I knew this guy was decommissioned five years ago. I can't remember why, I think for disobedience or something. I hadn't seen or even heard of him before when the kaijus were coming at lower levels. I've been commissioned at Hong Kong since I moved here with my family when I was eighteen. I just wanted to get this thing over with as soon as I could.

"Go easy on her, Raleigh." I heard Marshal say before we commenced. A flash of anger had driven over me as I realized that he trusted him more than he did over me, and this guy's been decommission longer than I have.

"No, just give me all you've got." His face looked smug. I surged forward on the balls of my feet and I raised my pole towards the side of his face. Mako called out "One - zero."

"Don't get cocky. We're supposed to be one." the ranger noted.

He lurched his arm so that the pole spun up and stopped right beneath my chin.

"One- one." Alright, alright. I'm going to cut this short and say that the match ended faster than the other ones did. When the score was around 'three - three', I had to stop to run out of the room and find a place to vomit. I'm gonna say, I couldn't find a trash bin, but there was an empty box near a cylinder full of what I'm assuming was kaiju parts. I rushed back, and saw the other ranger looking confused.

"I just needed some air." I lied. Marshal was not looking satisfied. He looked even more tired, if that was even possible.

"Ranger Lexy, leaving the mat during a match is prohibited, and will result in a penalty or a disqualification." No way. No fucking way. I was about to protest but Mako interrupted.

"Sir, the ranger is sick. I saw her leave the infirmary before the assessment." She looked at me encouragingly, and I was thankful for her existence. I always thought Mako was the better side of Marshal. I mean, Marshal was a tiny bit like Mako, but that part was hidden far far away, into the depths of his soul. She was like a sieve, rolling the harsh clumpy sand around so that it came out finer the other side.

"Look, Marshal." That came out of the other ranger's mouth this time. I hadn't entirely forgotten about him, but he was silent as soon as I left.

"We don't have much of a choice here, not to mention time. Let's just continue." Stacker seemed to listen to him slightly, and it gave the impression that these two have met before. We proceeded with the match, and I felt a lot better. I was feeling more flexible, and it allowed me to bend and jump. Although he threw me hard across the mat, my stomach didn't feel like wanting to burst. Well, not yet. I felt his pole accidently whip against my side whilst he was turning it. You can't let out your emotions when fighting, because it only gives the opponent an advantage. I think he noticed, though, since he almost stopped his twirling. I was already back into position, and he just went on with it. I managed to get him on his back, and with a raise of a leg, I was ready to gut him. He interjected and drew my legs from underneath me, with his pole pointed directly at my face.

"Four-five." He had beaten me and I wasn't surprised. We shook ourselves off and got up.

"This is my guy. This is definitely my co-pilot." I told Marshal in between breaths. I patted him on his shoulder.

"We'll see." And Marshal walked off with Mako, who turned around and quickly made sure I was alright. She rubbed my hair before leaving to mark the results. I quickly fixed my nest hair and turned to the pilot.

"Raleigh was it? I'm Lexy." We shook hands.

"I have to say, quite the fighter you were back there. Even with your whole...sickness." I laughed.

"Pilots gotta do what a pilots gotta do." We got our shoes back on and were walking.

"You alright, by the way? I think I might have hit you too hard." He asked. I didn't feel anything now.

"Yeah, don't worry about it." We turned the corner.

"Have you met Stacker before?" I asked.

"Yeah. Since I joined the program in 2017. He was the one who invited me back here." I made an "Ahh" sound and pulled my hair out from the back of the jacket.

"You're the other last Mark III pilot too?" Raleigh asked. I fixed my cuffs.

"Well, I wouldn't say that we're the last. My ex-co-pilot was a Mark III. He didn't die in battle though, he just...retired." He nodded.

"What happened to your co-pilot? I can't say I know too much about you, since I've only been commissioned in Hong Kong." The question seemed to sting at him a bit. I hadn't realized that I asked the wrong question. Of course, of course he/she was dead. That's what happened to all the other Mark III's. I have to remember that not all of us had a chance to just leave the program.

"I'm...sorry. I didn't think that..." I didn't know what to say. I sighed.

"Were they related to you?" I finally mustered. He seemed forgiving, and I was glad for it.

"My brother." He looked at me. I bit my tongue. I have to watch myself.

"While we were holding the Miracle Mile, off Anchorage. Right hemisphere was just torn right out, like a petal off a flower." I was filled with immense remorse. He lost his brother while in the drift. How more painful could that have been. I've never felt a loss so deep. Losing Krete was nothing. Losing a part of yourself is worse.

"I managed to control the jaeger back to shore." Raleigh continued. I realized I had heard the story before.

"You're the pilot of Gipsy Danger, the jaeger that was brought back to shore by a single pilot. Yeah, I remember now...That...must have sucked." I said. We looked at each other, and I could see his burns more clearly. Every ranger had the burns occasionally. I had a few on my back, but they easily disappear. I could see his burns were deep and forever etched into his skin, like a guilty tattoo. We stopped by the single room cells.

"Hey, It was nice meeting you and I hope you pass the assessment." I backed up on my stairs. I tried turning the handle but it wouldn't budge.

"Uhm...that's my room..." I heard him say behind me. I felt a little red, and apologized, hurrying across to my door.

"Lexy," Raleigh called.

"Yeah?"

"See you at lunch?" I made a small smile and went inside. Immediately lying against the door, I could hear Death knocking behind it. I felt really sick.


	3. Bench warmer

Stacker wanted to meet with me before lunch. I got fill ups from Tendo, and my old jaeger was currently being re-vamped to perfection. I haven't been inside a jaeger for two years and I yearned to be back inside one. Whilst on my way to see Marshal, I went out by the stationery to look at the jaegers again. Two years...Man. Cherno Alpha was currently blazed in a grey smoke, and upon inspection saw that it's spot beneath what would have been an abdomen was being refurnished with an aerosol of acrylic lacquer primer. Crimson Typhoon was nowhere in sight. Behind Cherno Alpha, in the very far back of the jaeger bases however, I saw in the dim light my old jaeger. Aether Rift. Hasn't been touched by any other pilot since my break. I could see that its white outer layering was still as spiffy as I had left it. I knew Marshal was taking great care of the jaeger project, I mean this was what's left of him. What would he have done without them? Marshal's not a guy that is ready to throw things away as soon as he sees malfunctions in them. Nothing can stop Marshal. And especially now, when the workload is continuing to grow on top of his shoulders, he's still managing to keep himself for the sake of the workers who half heartedly would just like to give up too.

I stared at every detail on Aether. Her large humanoid structure was mainly apparent by her larger upper body. I could see a crane full of workers working on replacing the lubricant in her internal drivers that contained the specialized weapons hidden inside. Another crew could be seen using a fully powered hose shooting gallons of what looked like a white thick liquid at the mechanical joints in between her elastomer shelling.

"Damn...ain't she gorgeous?" I heard. Herc strolled up beside me with Max at his feet.

"I know, can't believe she's still intact." Honestly, I would have gone on about old Aether, but I left it at that.

"Stacker's gonna re-commission you with Becket?" Herc asked. I bent down to pet Max.

"Becket...you mean Raleigh?" I said in embarrassment. Herc nodded. I wasn't quite sure if asking Herc was the better thing to do but I said "You think Marshal will let me back in?" It was a kind of question nobody wanted to be too sure on. I tended to get my hopes high, even with wanting Raleigh to be my co-pilot.

"Of course he will. Your pilot will be chosen soon anyway." Herc said unevenly. He knew that's not what I meant but I let it slide anyway. I just nodded.

"Max, come 'ere boy!" I heard a voice behind us say. It was Chuck. Max strolled towards him with his head bobbing up and down.

"I reckon I didn't hurt you too bad, did I?" He looked furious, perhaps even more than he did before the assessment. Herc bumped between us before anything got any further.

"Alright, alright. Calm yourself down, boy." He pulled his two sons away before saying he'd see me later.

I went off to find Marshal. I needed a co-pilot, I needed Raleigh. In his office, I imagined it to be more furnished and organized, but it was the complete opposite. Stacks of files were covered with plastic, ready to be shipped off, or recycled. His desk wasn't completely clean, but it still recovered the remaining project Marshal had in store. He had already debriefed me before on Project Pitfall. Sort of a cliche title to give to a shot that could possibly either end the entire Mark III restoration program, or humanity itself.

"You ready to give me my co-pilot?" I awaited anxiously. I did feel anxious about getting back in Aether. But Marshal seemed otherwise.

"Look, Lexy. I'm beginning to find you slowly becoming...mediocre. You need to step your game up, because unless you haven't noticed the entire world is coming to an end. I need you to be focused. Humanity is now waiting on the hands of fate, and this is not what I've brought you into for. We are at the peak of destruction, you understand? We cannot afford-"

"I know, I know. Just..." He stared at me with hawk-like eyes. "I'm in this right now, Marshal. You can't...I don't know what you're thinking, but you can't let me go. You can't just let me off like that. I'm not Krete. I'm not..." I started to speed up my speech but Stacker held his hand up to signal for me to stop.

"I get it. I've never thought of letting you off again Lexy. But I may put you aside until your training is fully needed." My mouth sort of twisted in hurt and surprise.

"You're not putting me on hold, are you? What about my co-pilot? What about Raleigh? What the hell was with all those assessments then?" Fury was enraging me in a tight embrace.

"Raleigh will be held off with your partnering for the moments notice. For now, I need you to keep focused on the plan. We'll be using what's left of the jaegers, but for now we will be needing you later on. I hope you don't entail to let us down, Lex." The embrace was like a lock, keeping me from breathing. I had to bite back my tongue before I let out something loose at Marshal.

"Yeah...I understand." I muttered before leaving.

My stomach was beginning to feel acidic, so I grabbed the brown bottle from my pocket, and despite the nurse ordering I only take it from a small measuring cup, I took a rather large sip of it right from the bottle. Immediately I could feel a sensation, possibly signaling that the medicine was doing its magic, or destroying my intestines. I went over to the mess hall, noticing the amount of eyes that stared or glanced over at me. I grabbed a tray regardless, and looked for an area to sit at. I noticed Raleigh across doing the same thing, and I waved him over. He smiled and sat down across from me.

"Hey, did Stacker talk to you yet?" I immediately asked. I wanted to know if he got the news as well. I wasn't sure if there was another suitor compatible for him just yet. But I didn't want to be so sure.

"Not yet. Herc tells me they're about to finish your jaeger." Raleigh told me. I felt a warmth in the idea of it being 'my jaeger.' I reckon he was expecting me to looked excited, but I couldn't play that face off too well.

"Yupp. Can't wait." After a couple of sips from the soup, I pulled out the brown bottle again, feeling another kick in my stomach. I took a smaller sip before putting it back.

"So you're on medications now?" Raleigh asked after taking a bite out of a slice of bread. "Unfortunately yes. I'm starting to think this isn't a stomach flu anymore." I groaned. He did a half laugh that would have been a bit more heartedly if I hadn't said it in pain.

"I don't uh, mean to be protruding, but Mako told me it's been two years since your decommission. What've you been doing that long?" I thought about my answer, because I didn't exactly know myself. After Krete left, I remained a pilot for the Mark III's. More like a substitute anyway. I've gone on to fight kaijus when the other pilots couldn't. You get the occasionally broken arm or leg, or the mentally unfit pilots that take breaks from their roles, and that's where I came in. Usually, this would be a problem with drift compatibility, but I seem to not have a problem in the drift as I don't hold much to my memories. In fact, I can't seem to remember much of my memories at all.

The farthest I can remember was when I was nineteen, my first year of deployment. Back then Krete and I were always together with Aether Rift. We were always a trio...or rather one person. I only have slips of memories over the course of those eight years, maybe small snippets of being in Aether, or slivers of Krete's memories. Either way, none of those memories mattered to me. Not since Krete left. It's impossible to get over the memories of a person you've drifted with, but it's a strange case for me. Stacker told me something happened on the night Krete left. Something I can't quite remember. I can get small...small pieces of it, but it's like a puzzle because you don't see the main picture until you have all the pieces. Remnants of what I do remember seemed unimportant; Krete and I fighting off Typhon, a Cat-3 kaiju, falling into the river, and that was all. Sometimes when I drifted with other pilots I'd see another sliver of a memory, only for a flash second and then it'd be gone. One time I saw something that looked like Krete yelling at me over a loud rolling sound whilst we drove Aether. Another time, I saw, or in a way felt, an extremely tense force brushing up against Aether's chest, well, my chest. It's peculiar because despite seeing it in a second I can remember it like I've studied it for hours.

I try not to let that get to me because it affects my play as a pilot. "I've just been...going between pilots." I finally answered. Something struck me.

"You've been out of service longer than I have...What've you been doing?" I curiously asked.

"I was in construction. At the anti-kaiju wall up in Alaska." Raleigh said. I noticed his face a bit more after he told me that. Tiny scars and burns suddenly seemed to show up and I could just imagine the amount of work they'd have to do up there.

"Must've been fun, huh?" I said sarcastically. He laughed.

"Almost _too_ fun." I smiled. I finished my soup before I finally decided on what to do with the situation with my co-pilot and I. Wiping my mouth I decided to talk about it.

"So, uhm. Stacker laid me off." Again. I thought. Raleigh looked concern, either for me, or for himself.

"Nothing to worry about, he's still got you on the down low. He might just suit you up with another compatible pilot." I was relieved to see his concern was still showing. Alright, so he may look like Chuck, but he ain't him.

"You felt it though, right?" He stopped eating and focused on me. "Didn't you feel the connection?"

"Of course I did. That's what confirmed you for me as my co-pilot." I told him. His eyes seemed to be boring itself into his tray. He seemed so focused on his bowl of corn.

"That can't be right. Why did he-"

"He thought I just needed some time to get my head in the game." I half lied. He stared at me some more before he commenced stabbing at his food.

"You better hurry up on that then, because I'm not going to be drifting with anyone else." Raleigh seemed so sure of himself. I mean, who was I? I've hardly met this man for more than a day, and he already seemed so sure on connecting with me. I couldn't have thought it was because of the assessments, hardly. Raleigh didn't look like he wanted to be talked out of it, so I just left him with it.

To make things slightly worse, good old Chuck strolled by towards our table and sat down beside me. I could see Chuck and Raleigh have already met before, with the obvious hate sprawled on Raleigh's face.

"I heard you got grounded, Sexy." He mocked. I stared at him before saying

"I didn't get grounded, I was just laid off for some time. And it's Lexy, you dick." Chuck didn't seemed so moved by my words and decided to move on to Raleigh.

"I see you two got along quite well despite rolling over each other during the assessment. That seemed like fun, didn't it Rayleigh?" He didn't say anything in return, but I could see his jaw tightening.

"It's _Rah_-leigh." Raleigh coldly said.

"Listen, _Fuck_. You better get your ass out of my sight before I stab something sharper into your balls, alright mate?" I hissed in a low voice. He didn't even look at me, just continue to stare at Raleigh. He pulled out his cap from his pocket and popped it on his head before making another comment.

"You better get yourself together, ranger. Before you kill us all out on the battlefield." He looked between me and Raleigh, so it was difficult to tell if he was talking at either of us, or both. We watched in disgust as he swaggered out of the mess hell.


End file.
